宅男视频

听

Module description

East Asia is one of the most culturally vibrant areas in the world today, with approximately one fifth of the world鈥檚 population, two of the largest world economies (China and Japan) after the USA, and some of the richest literary traditions. East Asian literatures and cultures, which are extremely diverse and distinctive, are as inextricably interconnected as they are profoundly marked by tensions and conflicts. What does the transcultural mean in the East Asian context? How do East Asian literatures and cultures relate to and differ from each other? How do their complex interrelationships give rise to transculturations in East Asia?

This module addresses these questions by approaching East Asia with an eye to tracking its transcultural dimensions, which involve on the one hand inter-East Asian cultural connections and comparisons, and on the other, East Asia in the global context. Reading across both premodern and modern eras, we will consider representative literary texts, cultural phenomena, visual materials, and important historical events that relate to transculturation. Throughout the module we will call into question some standard assumptions and stereotypes about East Asia, engage with debates about the various meanings and contexts of the transcultural, and relate to thinking comparatively between East Asia and Europe.听

The module is structured thematically, covering a range of topics that open up to transcultural horizons and comparative possibilities, including:听听

• Transnational exchanges and cultural re-appropriations听

• Women and gender听

• Race relations听听

• Colonialism and war听听听

• Global East Asia听

Teaching delivery

Each week you will have a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar in smaller groups (max 15). You will be asked to read set texts available on Moodle or 宅男视频 Main Library in preparation for each seminar class. You will also do formative in-class presentations on a topic of your choice.听

By the end of the module, you will have learned to:听听

• Take a critical overview of East Asian literatures and cultures and an in-depth understanding of some aspects;听

• Theoretically understand transculturation, cultural differences, and cross-cultural comparisons;听

• Engage thematically and comparatively with a range of literary texts and cultural artefacts from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds and in a broad chronological scope;听

• Demonstrate critical awareness about cultural and historical differences between East Asia countries as well as between East Asia and Europe;听

Recommended Reading听

In preparation for the module, we recommend reading one or more of these texts:听听

Eileen Chang, Lust, Caution, translated by Julia Lovell (London: Penguin, 2007)听

David Hinton, The Selected Poems of Li Po (London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1996)听

Sei Sh艒nagon: The Pillow Book, translated by Meredith McKinney (London: Penguin, 2006)听

Han Kang, The Vegetarian, translated by Deborah Smith (London: Portobello, 2015)听

Michael Keevak, Becoming Yellow: A Short History of Racial Thinking (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011)听

Peter Kornicki, Languages, Scripts, and Chinese Texts in East Asia (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018)听

Bert Mittchell Scruggs, Translingual Narration: Colonial and Postcolonial Taiwanese Fiction and Film (Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2015)听

Primary texts will be available in English or English translation, and may, where appropriate, also be read in the original language.鈥�听

听